June 2023 - Vol. 17 | Issue 02

ALL WAYS DOWN

ALL WAYS DOWN

Rene Rinnekangas Freaker 156

390 Boss Bindings photo: Tatu Toivanen

ARTIST

SOUND CHECK

FINAL DESTINATION

END CREDITS

COVER PHOTO

PHOTO: Willy Nevins

RIDER: Alister Horn

CAMERA: Sony RX100iii

PHOTO PROFILE: JAKE DURHAM

PROFILE: JOHN LEONARD

PHOTO: Peter Limberg RIDER: Billy Bottoms CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M LOCATION: St. Paul, MN

POWERED BY THE RIVER AND THE SUN

OPENING ACT Act

Salt Lake. Home base. This small city has changed so much in the four decades since my first visit, the two and a half decades since moving here, and especially the last ten. This SLC skyline, shot by Gill Montgomery, has gone from less than a half dozen buildings to many dozens, with more construction cranes popping up by the week. Salt Lake's importance within the snowboarding community has been constant regardless of the city's skyline size. For me, an Alabama skate rat from a community virtually devoid of any local support, having a living, breathing skate and snow network where I reside was a welcome change. Seeing the mountains where I spend my winters and the street rails in my neighborhood as features in so many video parts is especially thrilling. No matter where that home may lie, a thriving community, and more importantly, knowing you are a vital part of the whole, is crucial to the success of snowboarding. This issue celebrates that importance across a few of the many diverse communities in snowboarding. SLCbased illustrator John Leonard explores the weird and vanishing aspects of a rapidly growing and developing Salt Lake. Long under the shadow of the more visible SLC and PC resorts, Northern Utah's Powder Mountain makes its presence known with the Interlude Snow Show. The Chrome Boys discuss their newest project while holding it down for Minnesota. Michigan's People Skate and Snowboarding stresses the importance of the local shop within the microcosm of the industry. Jake Durham's Midwest roots are displayed in his photo gallery as he works as Ride Videographer/ photographer/creator. While SLC has long been a desirable destination for many transplants, I am so excited that it no longer MUST be. I am excited that the Midwest can have such a strong presence in snowboarding other than as a stop for traveling film crews or a starting point before the need to move west. What a glorious time for snowboarding. What a glorious time for each of these and every other community within the snowboarding realm. Representation matters, and it strengthens our industry to recognize the many faces and businesses that anchor snowboarding communities nationwide. Support local!

Photo: Gill Montgomery

Words by Daniel Cochrane

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Benjamin Littler

RIDER: Kaleah Opal

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M

LOCATION: J2 Kink, SLC, UT

SHOOTING GALLERY

GALLERY

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Peter Limberg

RIDER: Casey Phlipsen

CAMERA: Canon EOS 5D Mark III

LOCATION: Chippwa Falls, WI

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Sam Jorgensen

RIDER: Mike Liddle

CAMERA: Sony a7iii

LOCATION: Minneapolis, MN

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Corey Schlittenhart

RIDER: Shawn (@tahoneill)

CAMERA: Sony A7riii 16-35g

LOCATION: Donner Pass Road, Truckee, CA

PHOTO: Peter Limberg

RIDERS: Calvin & Kev

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M

LOCATION: St. Paul, MN

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Andrew Kooyman

RIDER: Mike Bogs

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7RM3

LOCATION: Brighton, UT

PHOTO: Chuck Schwarting

RIDERS: Trev & Brandon

CAMERA: Sony a7iii LOCATION: Michigan

SHOOTING GALLERY

PHOTO: Trevor Newman

RIDERS: Alec Ash

CAMERA: Ricoh 35mm Porta400 LOCATION: Michigan

GRASSROOTS Powsurf Co.

GThe Future of Surfing Snow

Snowboarding is progression. It’s the hunt for the next. Whether it’s adding another rotation, or figuring out that next gap, the shred is part art form, and part ratcheting up the difficulty, or consequences.

PBut sometimes progression moves in a different direction. Something with less rotations, smaller gaps, and much more soul. Enter Grassroots Powsurf, the company that started the movement around surfing waves of snow on shaped boards, without bindings.Founded by snowboarder Jeremy Jensen, and his friends came up with the concept of surfing snow in 2007, and in doing so created their own industry.

Words by Josh Ruggles

Photo by Jesse Coss

“I guess the first riding we did without bindings was just kind of standing between the bindings on our snowboards, while hiking around in the backcountry. This was before splitboards came out, so we were just standing between the bindings and then on the tail, and surfing mellow slopes, basically to get through flats and the backcountry,” Jeremy says.

But Jeremy and crew knew they stumbled on something special. This wasn’t just a way to scoot around in the backcountry between snowboard laps. This could be the reason to go to the backcountry—a new progression of the shred.

“I had crafted the first few boards and knew I was on the path to creating something amazing. I was very excited to share this with the world but a little worried about the production side of things as the boards were very time consuming to build,” he says. “Demand was pretty low those first couple of years since the world didn’t know what powsurfing was yet. But we educated them through film, and photo content I created, and it caught fire on social media.”

The building process was essentially a self taught endeavor that started and remains in the garage, where Jeremy, and his small crew presses and shapes each board. There is no mass-production happening with Grassroots. Jeremy has laid hands on literally every board that ships.

“I took what I knew from the snowboards and I knew what didn't work about them and then the parts of them that did work. And so I just put two and two together and started shaping some pretty primitive wood boards for the first few months,” he explains. “Once we started making them out, we kept creating different shapes and sizes, and figured out what really worked well because they immediately worked so much better than a snowboard deck.”

PHOTO: Keegan Rice

RIDER: Jeremy Jensen

CAMERA: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV LOCATION: Utah

One key difference between snowboarding and powder surfing is the nowobvious fact that there are no bindings, skyhooks, or anything connecting feet to the deck. But back then, the idea was so new, there was plenty of skepticism about whether they were faking their free-footed slashes. But the skepticism was short-lived.

“From the beginning we wanted to embrace the binding-lessness of it all, and make that apparent, because shots from far away weren’t always obvious,” Jeremy notes. “Once we realized we could ride them forward and backward, we started exploring what’s possible. Could we do bomb drops, do shove-its, and do flip tricks? Within the first year, I'd landed a kickflip on my second or third try, and it sort of changed things.”

Even as a small niche within an already somewhat niche industry, the stoke started spreading globally. The growing attention and interest, even led to a small debut in Travis Rice’s “The Art of Flight”, as well as other pro snowboard films. There was a shift happening in the mentality of snowboarding, in which some wanted bigger jumps, longer rails—more street, and more park. Others wanted the old soul of snowboarding back, and the latter started gravitating to powsurfing. But the momentum is hard-fought every step of the way.

“Creating and sustaining Grassroots powsurf has been a massive amount of work,” he says. “I had to teach myself how to do everything—how to start, and run a business, all of the design work, production—you can list everything involved in a business and that was all my job.”

PHOTO: Sean Kerrick Sullivan

RIDER: Jeremey Jensen

CAMERA: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV LOCATION: Utah

Now that Grassroots has paved the way for the category, other companies want in, and some contenders are bringing much deeper pockets. And while many of the competition’s offerings deliver a lower quality product with a fraction of the experience, and little to no soul—they’re still threats. But while Jeremy is aware of the main competition, he’s staying focused on what they’ve always done: build, ride, repeat. It’s the model that created the category, and why Grassroots is still going toe-to-toe with all the late-comers.

“We have been doing this so much longer than anyone else. Experience matters. It matters in shaping, design and progression. We see a lot of gimmicks that surface from other companies that never get the research and development needed to really make them into something real,” He explains. “We ride and test our powsurfers constantly, over a hundred days a season in a huge variety of conditions and terrain. We live and breathe powsurfing and our passion for it is unmatched.”

While Jeremy has always believed in his product, and powsurfing, it wasn’t until recently that other categories and brands started to prove his point.

“It was cool when powsurfing became big enough to get accepted by the snowboard boot companies. Deluxe snowboard boot company worked with us to create the Footloose boot, maybe six or seven years ago now. Then Vans eventually came out with one about a couple years ago, which was pretty cool,” Jeremy recalls.

After 16 years of shaping, Jeremy has kept Grassroots churning out handmade heat for those who want to progress in a different way than adding that next flip to their meat hucking repertoire. And he’s only getting started.

“We plan to keep on doing what we do best. Build the best powsurfers possible and share that with the world. We have so much incredible footage that has yet to be seen, from giant lines to progressive freestyle, and plenty of powder porn that is relatable to everyone,” he says. “The world will see some incredible stuff and they will be shown the full potential that our product and powsurfing itself offers.”

PHOTO: Josh Serna RIDER: Jeremy Jensen

CAMERA: Sony DSC-RX10M4 LOCATION: Utah

PHOTO: Justin White

RIDER: Jeremy Jensen

CAMERA: iPhone XS

LOCATION: Utah

INTERLUDE

in-ter-lude

noun

1. an intervening period of time.

2. a pause between the acts of a play.

/'in(t)ər,lōod/

inter-dood?

Trade Show; a phrase that instantly puts dread into the hearts of even the most steeled industry veteran. At the national level, it usually means a week lost (two, including set up for exhibitors) in the prime of the snow season to travel to another city, spend the day on your feet, eating bad convention-center food, and going through the industry dog and pony show. If you were lucky, there were great after-party events. Still, of course, you had to drag yourself out of bed at 7 AM the following day because Karen and Chad from some backwater shop selling boating goods and patio furniture in the summer made an 8 AM appointment. Hopefully, the hotel coffee and concrete brick they tried to pass off as a bagel could hold you over until someone could make a legitimate food run. Let's not even get into the politics of snowboarding being "allowed" to attend ski-centric conventions (literally shoved in the back) or the insane parameters that the big shows placed on vendors that made the Multi Level Marketing schemes of a Provo stay-at-home mom seem tame by comparison. On the regional level, shows faced the exact opposite challenges. They were generally harried, unattended by the company heads, hyper-local vs. all encompassing, and typically tried to cram too much into a short duration. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

LPitfalls aside, there are viable motives to attend a trade show. After all, something keeps the industry coming back season after season, drudgery aside. The primary was the face-to-face experience with every facet of industry personnel attending. Everyone from pro riders, shop kids, marketing, media, company founders, product engineers, and every other industry role was there, and it was terrific. Zoom Meetings and Emails are sufficient for handling business, but being present, face-toface, is where relationships are built. Secondly, the on-snow experience was always a blast. Yes, there were issues here as well, BUT even a mediocre day on the hill will surmount any complications. The on snow was the place where snowboarding could be snowboarding. Free of the convention hall politics and headaches. I have stated many times before that snowboarding is always best as an industry when it is in control of itself, and on-snow events were a place that thrived off of that mindset.

IWords by Daniel Cochrane

Photos by Tristan Sadler

RIDER: Max Lyons

CAMERA: Canon EOS R5

LOCATION: Powder Mountain, UT

The Interlude Snow Show, the brainchild of Chase Burch, profiled in our first issue of the season, is snowboarding and snowboarders stepping in to take control of their destiny within the trade show world. Fully aware of the previously mentioned ups and downs of trade show life, Chase set out to create a better model. The first thing I noticed about Interlude's early press information was its self-billing as a SNOW show, NOT a trade show. That was a great start. When Interlude's mission statement was issued, it furthered hopes for success and belief that Chase was on the right path;

Chase decided to re-invent, perhaps even perfect, the notion of what a snow show could and should be. The business end was relegated to evenings, and daytime hours would be allocated to snowboarding, which everyone would rather be doing anyway. Powder Mountain hosted both aspects, with an on snow-based at the top of Hidden Lake and the nighttime "business" side of the event in the valley at Bower and Arbor Lodges. Evening festivities would include chef-prepared meals and a main event that was more lifestyle focused than business focused. It was a gamble. It all looked great on paper, but how would it be received? Was snowboarding ready to embrace such a radical deviation from the norm?

Chase built it, but would they come?

"A unique experience - in the mountains - for key snowboard retailers to view, touch, and try next year's products from the best brands in snowboarding while snowboarding."

CAMERA: Canon EOS R6m2 LOCATION: Powder Mountain, UT

Arkade made the trek to Eden on set-up day to see how it all would pan out. Set-up day was an unofficial on snow day, with show commencement and check-in officially beginning that evening. A foot of new snow made for many a last-minute set up that evening as hellos and high fives at Arbor Lodge in the morning quickly transformed into power euphoria up the canyon. When the fortunate made their way back down to set up, we headed down as well to get into "business" mode. Quickly, before the official launch, we knew this would be a success. Despite its smaller nature, we immediately encountered heavy hitters from the snowboarding world. Blue Montgomery (C3), Tim Eddy (K2), Matt Stillman (Rome), Bjorn Leines (Cardiff), Joe Sexton (Public), Benny Pellegrino (Nitro), Dave Marx (Arbor), Johan Malkoski (Union), and Mark Dangler (Capita) were all in attendance. The snowboarding industry had taken notice of Interlude. Would the shop community do the same?

We made our way to Bower Lodge for some delicious and muchappreciated food from Chef Wally Inouye. Perfect after a long day on the hill. Inside we also ran into a handful of other snow media folks: Pat Bridges, SKS, and Justin Meyer, to name a few. We worked the room seeing more friends from Utah and beyond. We met retailers, buyers, and shop owners from the Pacific Northwest, California, the Southwest, and the Midwest. It was so thrilling to see small shops with such a significant presence and given the attention and time they so much deserve. Interlude got it right. Interlude brought snowboarding together to celebrate snowboarding in a way only snowboarding knows how to do. We exited to get some air and were astounded at the line of attendees spilling out of Bower Lodge into the parking lot, each waiting to get their credentials and join the celebration. The following days, and evenings, were just what the industry needed. Chase and his group built it, and snowboarding, as it always does, showed up to support one of its own. Arkade is so proud of the community and of Chase. What a momentous occasion, showing that snowboarding's embrace of its DIY roots is still strong. Interlude 2024 is now in the planning stages.

RIDER: Chase Burch

CAMERA: Canon EOS R5 LOCATION: Powder Mountain, UT

MUSICIAN: Max Gilbert

CAMERA: Canon EOS R6m2 LOCATION: Powder Mountain, UT

AN INTERVIEW WITH:

Riddles crew was organically formed by Kevin Gillespie and Calvin Green as roommates thru 2017-2020. Both had been filming street and contributed to The Impaler videos over a few seasons. Then over the summers of 2018 and 2019 they filmed a skate flick titled "RAME" releasing it 2020. It was with the enjoyment of that experience and a new excitement of doing their thing collectively. That they then choose to continue to build on their skate video feels and make a snow flick with their own crew of friends who enjoyed searching out and setting up unique spots to shoot street. This eventually lead to the a two year piece titled "Chrome Portal" featuring, Kevin Gillespie, Calvin Green, Collin Maynard, Chaney Gilmore, and host of homies. Released November 2022 to a Minneapolis scene primed for a fresh take and view. Just what this well established base of riders had to share. Let's just say the fresh takes, easy style, smooth edit, and unique features added a new richness to a year full of "edits". Read on to hear their perspective on some of the ideas, spots stories, and project managing that it took to put out their first feature.

Robby Frank

HEADSHOTS & INTERVIEW BY

CALVIN Green

PHOTOS BY Peter Limberg

INTRO BY Peter Harvieux

KEVIN Gillespie

COLLIN Maynard

Robby: Robby:

Alright, Chrome Boys, so this was a two year project. What were some of the benefits from undertaking a two year project?

Kevin:

Um ahh I would say being able to be more selective with clips because after the first year you can kinda see what you’ve done and you can build your footage around that and it just gives you more time when you’re working, and life.

Collin: Collin:

I feel like we all work a lot and we pretty much go out on weekends anyways so it sort of makes the timelines longer.

Does it make the process easier?

Yeah, yeah.

Calvin:

I like that it gives you more time, but also having footage from the previous year to kind of build upon and gain momentum into the next season; that’s kind of helpful. You can figure out what you want to hit and you can dial it in a little easier.

You can look at what you have and you can diagnose what’s necessary around that?

Collin:

Calvin:

Robby:

Robby: Robby:

Yeah it’s kind of nice to not feel like you’re starting from scratch.

Right. Yeah, you can have, like, a solid foundation and you’re building from there.

Sure. So a lot of the clips are filmed at night, obviously because of work during the day. What percentage of the video do you think was filmed at night and what was your latest night?

Kevin:

Calvin:

Ummm I don’t know, probably less than 40% of the clips

There's a good split.

The night ones stand out more, I suppose.

Kevin:

Calvin:

Collin:

Kevin:

Robby:

The latest night was probably Calv’s spot where did that backlip in New Hope.

Oh yeah, that was probably like 2am? Because you hit it for a little while also.

Which backlip?

The gap to flat, backlip fakie.

What about your latest night, Collin?

Collin: Collin:

Kevin:

Uhhh not super late, but I feel like the Bakken one maybe? Maybe like 11ish?

That was such a sick night because we were just in and out and everything happened really quick.

Robby:

Back to the backlip, would you be able to share the process behind that?

Calvin:

Ahhh yeah. It was a gap to flat rail. So, we set it all up, I board slide just to test it and broke my board right away.

I only brought one board so I had to go home and come back. That’s probably a 40 minute round trip. Then set another board up, started hitting it again, then the drop-in broke that time. It’s probably like 11:30 or midnight at this point and so we fixed that and started hitting it again. Finally get it by like 1am then Kev hit it for a bit. It was a long night.

Robby:

What about the clip of Kevin doing the down flat jump to the sign? Can you talk about that one a little bit? I thought that was so sick.

Robby: Robby:

Kevin: How many tries did it take?

That one we went to that spot where Calv did that concrete ledge that drops. While we were letting the ledge ice over we saw that thing and decided someone should probably hit it.

Kevin:

Calvin:

Collin:

It took a while. It was like... I don’t know, a lot [laughs].

Yeah you kinda battled that for a little bit.

The camera took a shit on us too.

And then a clip I wanted to ask you about, Collin, was the switch fifty hop switch fifty?

Calvin:

We were in North [Minneapolis], and I don’t know, Uptown just wasn’t too far away. I think I had already done it regular with Justin. I sort of figured why not try it switch? I couldn’t really figure out speed the first time. And I think it was a pretty fried drop-in, too, like there’s this weird pallet sitting on the top that we probably didn’t need. And I completely forgot to dust the stairs so I ate shit a couple times.

Robby: Robby:

Calvin, what about you? You’re in a similar boat Collin?

Calvin: Collin:

I usually work like 9-4ish everyday. I feel like it makes you plan ahead a lot more and just go into the weekend with a plan of, like, what you wanna hit.

Robby:

Kevin:

I think I was pretty lazy that winter, or at least the second winter. I was working for a friend’s dad and they couldn’t bring me on full time. So, I would just board at the resorts all week while they were at work then we’d link up on nights and weekends.

We did have a good program going though. Like, 10-12 hour days on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. You spend your time a little more intentionally. You don’t really want to wait another week to try and get something - you know?

I know that music was a big issue [laughs]

Kevin:

I don't know - if a video doesn’t have, like, interesting music or memorable music or like introduce you to new music. It can make the video less interesting to me. That was just really important to me, I guess. To have music that kind of fits everyone.

Collin:

Kevin:

Sorry I asked you to change my song so many times.

I don’t know but that was sick; For Collin’s part we went through like, probably, 15 songs. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but there was a lot I threw into the timeline, so probably close to that. Once we were narrowing it down it was probably closer to like 4 or 5 that we really tried.

RIDERS: Kevin & Calvin

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M

LOCATION: St. Paul, MN

RIDER: Kevin Gillespie

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M

LOCATION: St. Paul, MN

Robby:

Speaking of Chaney, he’s not here, but could you tell me about his pivot to fakie under that bridge? Ollie to tail tap, to fakie?

Kevin:

Oh, on the bridge pedestal thing? Yeah that was just one of the spots he wanted to do. When Calv and I pulled up they had already had it set up. Like, to the extent that they could, but the transition looked so meager. It looked huge because of the absence of the transition, but yeah it was a really funny set up.

Robby:

Collin:

Robby: Sick. He used a Bungee for that?

That’s probably my favorite clip in the video.

Collin:

Kevin: Kevin:

Robby:

I feel like that was one of the few Bungee spots, too. We didn’t really bungee at all.

Yeah once Calv made the drop in it was a lot of drop ins. Chaney winched one spot.

Which spot was that?

Chaney’s front board to the fence that Lamb filmed the fisheye of.

What about Eau Claire? I hear there was magic in Eau Claire.

Kevin:

Yeah, we ended up having a pretty sick squad, a whole bunch of people came together. There was nine of us, I think? It was me, Collin, Calvin, Chaney, Casey Pflipsen, Peter Limberg, Tony Wagner, Chuck and Haley Boucot. We set up this big wall to jump hit the first day. Chuck had wanted to hit this fence on the top of the wall. He had heard that we had the landing built so he drove there at like 7am or something from the Twin Cities. He got to Eau Claire super early and hit it first I think. Which was sick, it ended up being his ender in the Impaler video.

Robby:

What about your experience, Collin?

Collin:

All of Chaney’s stuff is my favorite. The clip he got in Eau Claire was sick. He comes down out of the woods, gaps over a little sidewalk to an out rail and fifties the rail into a wallride.That was amazing. It was a really fried set up. There was a pallet wedged up against the rail for the lip and then…

Kevin:

Collin:

Robby:

Robby:

Kevin:

And the one he did the cops were walking up on him.

Hell yes - I loved that clip too.

There was a piece of plywood against the wall for the landing… That spot was kind of like a genius eye. Chaney saw that one lining up, pointed it out, and just busted it like that - all sick. But yeah it was kind of funny all - of the really sick clips that we got in Eau Claire were all on the same street. Dewey Street in Eau Claire.

People are talkin’ about Dewey St.

Calvin:

It was productive; Dewey St. provides… Whatever you want to hit you’ll find it on Dewey St.

Robby:

Is that where the bank to stair spot is? That’s a cool one. How did you get around to premiering the video at the Heights Theater with Erik Olsen and Panic Order?

Calvin:

I ran into him at Palace Park one night and we just started talking about it. It all just snowballed from there. Trial and Error played, too, which is some younger kids.

Kevin:

Yeah they kinda lined that whole thing up. L1 helped out with the venue. They were down to have us show our video there too.

You told me that after the video premiere there was kind of a slump; you guys were just sort of riding out preseason. When did you get over the slump and how did the rest of the winter turn out?

Kevin:

Yeah, after we premiered it some friends came to town in January and that sort of ignited this new video. I think we are going to do another two year thing to make it more of a full fledged project.

Robby:

Robby: Robby: Robby: Robby:

Did you feel like you were in any kind of slump, Calv?

Calvin:

I don’t know I would say I was more excited, sort of ready to just like keep going, but it was definitely hard to get hyped on hitting anything around here. There’s so much stuff here, but its kind of hard to find new stuff. I don’t know, it’s hard to find new spots to get excited about in the Twin Cities area without taking a lot of time, which is what I ended up doing. I was just trying to find more shit that I was hyped on, things that got me excited.

Kevin:

We had exhausted a lot of the spots that we had in mind with Chrome Portal.

Collin, you moved to Boise for a bit and now you’re back in Minneapolis due to an injury. Will you be able to snowboard next year and hopefully get in this new project?

Collin:

Yeah that's the plan. I need two knee surgeries. I got the first one in March, and then I have another one in June. That’s, like, a six month recovery, so hopefully December/January I can board again. I was super bummed this year. After everything I was very excited about snowboarding and kinda got stuffed a little bit with this injury. When I was in Boise I would text Kevin every weekend and just ask what they were hitting [laughs].

Kevin:

I was sending pictures of every spot to Collin, he loved it [laughs]

And when you came back to Minneapolis you went out to the spots with them? Limping around?

Collin:

Yeah, [laughs] and honestly that scratched the itch a little bit too, to just be out with the homies again.

Sick, it’s always fun hanging out at the spot, helping out. Well, I am excited to see Chrome Portal 2!

PHOTO: Sierra Forch

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500C/M LOCATION: St. Paul, MN

Written by JP Goulet

Mike Kijewski moved here for a job, but really, he moved here for the mountains. I was introduced to Mike by our mutual friend Dusti, who's a lifelong Powder Mountain local. I believe the reason why we all knew a friendship would blossom with Mike was because he already knew where he wanted to ride... Pow Mow! Anyone who's been in the industry wants to rub shoulders with the pros at Brighton, Snowbird, or Park City. However, this East Coaster already had the right idea of what he wanted from the mountain.

Mike and I have spent the past 7 or 8 years rippin' around Pow Mow, fishing the west, and skating around town. I'm stoked to see him link up with my high school buddies, Matt and Blake, to help them run the new Slackwater in SLC. As the GM for the downtown restaurant, he's already hosted a bunch of industry events, partnering with its neighbors, Evo, Industry, etc. Mike is the right person to help market the Canary District and help all the local businesses thrive in this newly redeveloped area in Downtown SLC.

PHOTO: Ian Matteson

CAMERA: Sony DSC-RX100MS

LOCATION: Powder Mountain, UT

PHOTO: Paul Bundy

People. People Skate.

People Snowboard.  People Skate And Snowboard.

We opened up in 2010, 20 miles north of Detroit, in Keego Harbor, Michigan. I had been a manager and buyer at a shop called TWC (The Windsurf Company) for six years. The owner was ready to call it quits after something like 20 years. His focus had shifted to commercial real estate and running a boardsports shop had become more of a liability than a passion. So I was freshly unemployed in the middle of a recession. Married with one kid and another on the way. I decided the best thing to do was what I knew and open a skate and snowboard shop.

What did I have to lose? At 26, I pulled all my finances together, sold off what I could, maxed out my credit cards, stopped paying my underwater mortgage… in hindsight, I probably wouldn’t repeat those choices, but it is what I had to do to open up the shop. In the end, I had amassed about $30k and believed I could make it work. This wasn’t to be a clone of the other shop. I wanted to do something fresh in our area. A shop that I wanted to exist. It was my own thing. People. A place where the artists, musicians, freaks, and different opinions had a place to belong and interact. An inclusive space where we sold skateboards, apparel, and snowboards. We held art shows, video premieres, and provided a space for people to be themselves.

Words by Ben Clarke

Photos by David Veillette

This was achieved by curating a group of rider owned and operated brands that inspire me and add value to the local skateboard and snowboard culture. I assembled skateboard and snowboard teams with people who got/get me stoked to ride and progress that extends outside of the park or a spot. That can be through intellect, art, music, or style. One of my founding employees, Stevie Shakes (a big reason this thing happened at all) would always say something like, ‘I want the least interesting thing about a skater to be skateboarding’. It is a mantra that rings true for me. We are so much more than riding a board down a hill or handrail. If your entire existence is skateboarding or snowboarding, maybe you should spend some time doing something else... You’ll be a better skateboarder, snowboarder, and person for diversifying your interests.

Our shop is successful because we are more than just a place to buy goods. We are intentional and nourish the culture that makes our business work. We don’t expect everyone who comes through our doors or shops on our website to be good at skateboarding or snowboarding. We do hope that we can inspire them directly or indirectly by being responsible with what we carry and having more integrity than warehouse retailers chasing a sale.

Where you buy something is often much more important than what you buy.

Is their team or staff that is inspirational to you?

Is it the art direction?

Is it sustainability?

Are they holding events, donating products to make those events happen?

When you support a small retailer rather than a big corporate warehouse retailer, an exponentially larger percentage of your purchase is going directly back to skateboarding and snowboarding. Put a little extra effort into knowing which shops are worth supporting out there. Before making a purchase, check their instagram and see if they are posting photos of their team, events, etc. It will go a long way in keeping this culture rich.

Buy good things from good people.

PHOTO: Chuck Schwarting

RIDER: Trevor Newman

JAKE DURHAM

Without documentation, snowboarding as we know it would look a lot different than it does today. Cameras are a vital ingredient in the presentation and preservation of the tricks, personalities and moments that are burned into our collective memories and shape our culture. Many talented people have made great contributions and lent their hand in this arduous process of following and shooting snowboarding.

One of those many talented people is Jake Durham.  It’s hard enough to stand out in today’s world, but Jake has managed to create videos that are distinctive and boldly unique. You could watch a few seconds of a video and reasonably know that it's the product of Jake’s touch. He’s created a visual brand for himself that has been closely synonymous with the Ride Snowboards brand for the past 8+ years.

My personal bias; lies in the fact that Jake is a dear friend and I deeply admire his experimental and creative approach to just about anything he gets his hands on. Enjoy these photo’s Jake has selected of snowboarders behind the scenes and in his personal life and shout out to the people behind the camera preserving moments for us all to enjoy.

PHOTO GRA p h ER

P

Words by Cole Navin

J OINT_PASS

CAMERA:

LOCATION: Brighton,

RIDERS: Dan Liedahl, Mike Bogs, Harry Hagan

Ilford HP5 Plus B&W Disposable Camera

UT

SKATER: Joe Hall

CAMERA: Olympic Stylus Epic Infinity

LOCATION: Hiawatha Bowl, Minneapolis, MN

GABBY_MAIDEN

CAMERA: Olympic Stylus Epic Infinity LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA

FIRE_FOOT

FOOT: Josh Manoles

CAMERA: Olympus Stykus Epic Infinity

LOCATION: Duluth, MN

TRAVELLING_WITH_SKATEBOARDS

CAMERA: Olympus Stykus Epic Infinity

LOCATION: Salt Lake City, UT

JACOB_KRUGMIRE_ZEB_POWELL

LOCATION:

MARC_

CAMERA:

LOCATION:

CAMERA: Olympus Stykus Epic Infinity

Manhatten, NY

SKATER: Marc O'Malley

Joytrip Instant Print Camera

Paris, France

John Leonard is a Philadelphia-born, Salt Lake-raised creative. He cites 90's childhood favorites such as The Simpsons and Beavis and Butthead as pivotal influences, as well as motion graphics from quintessential '80s/90's studios Touchstone and Gracie Films. His stomping grounds were the Tower Theater and the old Hollywood Video on 4th South.

Although he came to drawing "late," John has worked to curate nearly a decade of material on his site, leonardcartoons.com, an amalgamation of musings, drawings, single-panel cartoons, and animations toeing the line between reflective, absurdist, and satirical. Much of his work comes from a very Salt Lake-centric point of view, with inside jokes and well-known local establishments in the forefront. August 2021's "Salt Lake Arcade; if classic games were set in Salt Lake" is single-handedly worth visiting the site. Initially, he created works with a traditional paper, pencil, and overlay technique using micron pens and Lamys. Over time, however, he transitioned to Photoshop and Illustrator, which he found to better complement his motion and animation-oriented mindset.

In 2021 John began publishing illustrations of locations throughout the Salt Lake Valley and neighboring areas. Sure, traditional Salt Lake landmarks such as the State Capital, Vivint (soon to once again be rechristened as The Delta Center), and Saltair make appearances but so do local favorites and oddities such as Ken Sanders Rare Books, Redwood Lounge, Bonwood Bowling, the Fairpark DMV, and of course perennial Arkade friend/supporter The Heavy Metal Shop.

John Leonard

Salt Lake has always been, in many respects, simply an oversized small town. Cultural quirks allowed local franchises and single businesses to dominate the landscape over traditional, more ubiquitous national chains. Transplants must quickly learn what "I bought it from KSL" means, what exactly Fry Sauce is, and then declare their allegiance to either Crown Burger or Arctic Circle. However, Salt Lake, over the past decade, has seen its low-key hidden gem identity diminished due to an enormous influx of new residents and large-scale economic growth. Growth and change are inevitable, but that does little to lessen the blow when local icons are boarded up, fenced off, and eventually leveled to make room for the new Salt Lake. Because of this, John's work has struck a chord with long-time Salt Lake residents and natives. Of late, his works and name have popped up in several Salt Lake-centric social media outlets.

Despite being steeped in Salt Lake lore, his works aren't political statements on localism. He professes his love, for example, towards the neon glow of the national chain AutoZone on North Temple and the Century Theater on 33rd. Instead, these pieces celebrate businesses, buildings, and other sites that he finds aesthetically pleasing. The majority owes their uniqueness to Salt Lake's many decades as its hidden little world. This is a reminder, in an era of transformation and construction, to take the time to recognize and appreciate the vanishing characteristics of your local town, wherever that might be.

You can view all of John's work at his previously mentioned site, leonardcartoons.com, keep up to date via his socials as @mcgettigan_ on Twitter/Instagram, and check out some older animations on his Youtube channel, Leonard Cartoons. Prints, when available, can be found at pushedoffpress.store (the site itself was named from an SLC inside joke involving the Jazz and Jordan's infamous no-call NBA finals push-off).

Words by Daniel Cochrane 72

SOUND CHECK S C

by Daniel Cochrane

Desmond Doom is a mystery. With artist information pages on both Spotify and Bandcamp virtually bereft of information and no discernable social media digital footprint, the Melbourne, Australia, artist undoubtedly takes the less-is-more approach. The solitary breadcrumb Desmond Doom offers a fan is this descriptor of his catalog "Desmond Doom sounds Joy Division, and The Smiths started a band in Eastern Europe." Doom delivers on this promise, ticking all of the boxes of the doom/goth aesthetic with shrill, piercing guitars, rolling bass lines, and droning monotone lyrics pontificating on love, life, misanthropy, and alienation. The Surf Goth E.P. and its companion, Surf Goth B-Sides EP, were released in August and December of last year. Personal favorites include "I Hope I Never See Your Face Again," "The Dissociation Song," "Now That You're Gone," and "Take me Back'" from the Surf Goth E.P. Standouts from Surf Goth B-Sides EP include "Bonnie and Clyde," "Mavra Sinnefa (Black Clouds)," and the tongue and cheek "You'll Never be A Rockstar (That's OK)." In addition to the two E.P.s, four other singles from 2022 can also be found on Bandcamp. Desmond's latest singles, 2023's, Disease, can be found on both Spotify and Bandcamp. Highly recommend dreary yet infectious, gloom-goth beach pop that takes itself seriously enough to be enjoyable, but not so serious to seem cliché.

2022 Self-Released

Glaring is the ethereal coldwave (think dark downtempo with haunting wispy vocals) project of German-based Anna Nin. The Schweben (German for "hover/float/levitation") E.P. is her latest release in a relatively short but prolific career, producing eight self-released albums since 2018. At only five tracks and under thirteen minutes, Schweben is a brief yet robust listen. What I especially enjoy with the Schweben EP (and Glaring releases in general) is the thought Anna Nin places on overall pacing and track order. This is, lamentably, a dying art in today's digital landscape of Tik Tok snippets and sound bite-based viral culture. "Jeder Stribt Allein" (Everyone Dies Alone) opens the E.P. with a slow pulsing bass line and is accompanied by swirling layers of synth and, finally, Anna's haunting vocals. As the piece fades title track, "Schweben," takes over, upping the ante with stronger beats and increasingly growing synths and vocals working its way into a frenetic conclusion. "Wie Lange Noch" (For How Much Longer) holds to E.P.'S pivotal middle slot and is an even faster rhythm of traditional coldwave bass beats and echoing synths, perhaps reminiscent of a lost composition from The Cure during their most glorious and grandiose Disintegration era recordings. The Penultimate "Unreal" brings the listener back down from the everincreasing pace of the previous three tracks with a slower offering before the closer "Ende" bombards the listener with the fiercest pulsing synths and quickest pace of the E.P. All in all, each of the five tracks of "Schweben" could fit within any D.J.'s set list at your local club's goth night, as long as said D.J. shares Glaring's appreciation for cadence and pacing. Highly recommended for pow days, late-night solo driving sessions, or even rainy Sunday evening background music.

Black Tapestry is a newly formed Desert Darkwave duo from Sedona, Arizona. I've always had an affinity for Arizona bands since my teenage discoveries of The Meat Puppets and skate punk stalwarts J.F.A. The desert land and the seclusion that accompanies it permeates the region's artists, giving them a unique sound no matter their musical genre. Black Tapestry's embrace of their desert roots is immediately apparent from the first chords of "Nocturnal Flight (Bats and Owls)," the opening offering from the band's debut L.P. "Monsoon." In fact, the duo's affinity for their desert roots isn't just a passive affair. Monsoon is a love letter to the desert, from guitar riffs that wash over the listener like the hot desert breeze to the subject matter of many of the band's songs, such as ravens, reptiles, monsoon rains, sinkhole lake Montezuma's Well, and the previously mentioned nightly excursions of bats and owls. Musically the album gives me vibes of The Kills and occasionally The Ravonettes, especially where the guitars are concerned. Adding pipe organ styled synths provides the album with a nice touch and anchors the darker tone of their music and lyrics. Black Tapestry's second release of 2022, "Monsoon Revamped," finds the band reimagining their previous album by exploring the darkwave category with remixes featuring more pronounced beats and synths. I particularly appreciate how Black Tapestry's original songs and their respective remixes give two completely different listening experiences. Sometimes I prefer one to the other, but that changes frequently. Listening to one album inevitably leads me toward its companion. The band’s latest single, 17 Years, an ode to the emergence of the Cicada was released in April of this year. With only a few dozen monthly listeners on Spotify, Black Tapestry is still looking to find a broad audience in a seemingly limitless sea of options. I hope you will give them a listen and agree that they are well deserving of your attention.

Cassette Drift

Phrase of Silence (single)

2022 Self-Released

Salt Lake City's Cassette Drift creates swirling cinematic compositions with influences from such acts as Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and Drab Majesty, as well as their associated genres, including post-punk, shoegaze, and darkwave. Admittedly, Cassette Drift is the odd band out in this issue's batch of musical offerings. I wouldn't label them as having a traditional darkwave/goth aesthetic, perhaps more Cinematic Noir or goth adjacent. They are an example of the phenomenon I jokingly refer to as "the Depeche Mode principle." Few listeners would categorize Depeche Mode as goth, but plenty of goths listen to Depeche Mode. Let's just haphazardly classify them as "goth adjacent." The duo, composed of Aaron Valentine and Mike Smith, themselves sons of musicians, have put out two full-lengths (2019's International Fateline and 2020's Effortless) and several singles. Their latest effort is the "Phrase of Silence" single with a B-Side cover of The Cure's "A Forest." "Phrase of Silence" is a synth-heavy up-tempo effort that opens with a hard-pounding bass line. It eventually gives way to their signature-layered sound bolstered by echoing guitars and synth accompaniments. Their cover of "A Forest" is my favorite cover style in which a band offers a rendition of a song in their own style. The cover retains much of its original bones; however, the listener is given a glimpse of what "A Forest" would sound like if Cassette Drift originated it (side note the band's 2020 cover of Wang Chung's "To Live and Die in L.A." is another excellent example in this style of a criminally underrated 80's synth/noir gem). I highly recommend Cassette Drift for their moody, '80s-tinged compositions especially for mellow late-night headphone sessions. Cassette Drift is found on streaming platforms but is supported best via Bandcamp.

Glaring Schweben (EP)

Black Tapestry Monsoon & Revamped (LPs)

2022 Bodacious Raptor

Desmond Doom Surf-Goth & B-Sides (EPs) 2022 Self-Released

@ glaring.anna @cassettedrift @black.tapestry

FINAL DESTINATION

Brighton Resort's Mt. Millicent, or Milly to locals, in all her glory. Few locations have featured so prominently in snowboard media than the areas serviced by this single chair.

Wagon Wheel, Field Goal, Mary Chutes, The Rock Garden, Wolverine Bowl, Decade Dam, Doggy Balls, Chico's Cliff, Swimming Pool, Milk It, and the Twin Lakes Dam are just a sample of the hits, jumps, and features that have made their way to snowboarding edits and videos for over three decades.

For those making their initial pilgrimage to the Promised Land, Milly's Peak and open bowl are the first proper glimpse of Brighton as one rounds the Brighton Loop. To the locals who make their way every season, the same scene becomes a shining beacon reminding us why we return each winter. Its peak is uniquely situated, catching the sun's morning light as it creeps over the resort's Eastern Ridge and the last rays of the day as it sets in the west. Hopefully, you are lucky enough to read this on the Milly deck as we enjoy park laps through Memorial Day to celebrate the greatest snow season on record. The extended season has been a decades-long dream for many at Brighton, and finally it is a reality. Brighton photog Andrew Kooyman captured this rarely seen view of Mt. Millicent illuminated in the evening hours. Sparking the imagination for even bigger dreams. Who's to say if perhaps one day night riding too could become a regular occurrence. Until then allow your imagination to run with hopes and possibilities. Thank you to our readers, sponsors, and partners for your continued support each season.

Arkade will return this fall with Volume 18.

PHOTO: Andrew Kooyman CAMERA: Sony A7R3 70-200

LOCATION: Brighton, UT ARKADE 17.2

Editor & Adversiting

R.C. Llewelyn cory@arkademagazine.com

Daniel Cochrane daniel@arkademagazine.com

Editor Peter Harvieux theipproject@yahoo.com

Layout & Design Editor Jake Kenobi jake@springbreakjake.com

Contributing Photographers

Willy Nevins, Jake Durham, Peter Limberg, Andrew Kooyman, Tristan Sadler, Ian Matteson, Sam Jorgensen, Trevor Newman, Jesse Coss, Keegan Rice, Sean Kerrick Sullivan, Josh Serna, Justin White

-its

PHOTOS: Jake Durham

HUMANS: Dan & Mikey

LOCATION: Japan

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p: Tim Zimmerman